True Colors

This morning I woke up to a bush of beautiful rose blooms. And while taking shots of them with my mobile, testing out various effects (which I'd just learnt), I was amazed at the assorted impressions that these gorgeous roses formed.

True colors came to mind this beautiful sunny day...

Trust and having faith in people slowly diminishes into the air in many friendships today. It is indeed a somber issue but it is so real to many people. Just like the dazzling, fascinating special-effects photos of these roses - it is exactly when one starts to create a whole different image of oneself in order to be accepted and admired. Thus, the construction of a whole new body cast starts piling from bombast, mimicry, and egocentrism...amongst others!

God has given you one face and you make yourself another... William Shakespeare

My students would labelled these people as "fake people" but I call them TOXIC. And...  it's all from having low self-worth. Honestly, what much are you worth in terms of genuinity? 

Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you? Fanny Brice

I truly believe that every single one of us, in our authentic God-given nature, with our unique gifts, has an impact on lives, in mysterious ways. If only you get to know yourself better. If only you value yourself. Understand your behavior. Recognize your character traits well.

Your true colors reflects in the way you operate in the world, your strengths and weaknesses, your vulnerabilities, your deepest needs, and your challenges at different times of your life.

Love yourself! Your true self, and not your created self. When you learn to do so, you will take pride in who you are and what you have to offer. I trust that this is the basic foundation to personal growth.

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are... E. E. Cummings

Being selfish and being YOURSELF are two incomparable meanings.

Oscar Wilde quoted that selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. Being convinced that the world revolves around you is one loathed character trait.

However, when you see someone living their life with positivity, when you witness joy in their ways, when you observe intrinsic and extrinsic love... what would you conclude?

I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! Theodore Roosevelt

Adenium (Fu Gui Hua)

The Prosperity flower, known to many as the flower that would bring luck, success, and wealth to homes.

Do you agree that prosperity is your way of living and thinking?

What do you hold precious to your hearts?

Money?

The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money. (Thomas Jefferson)

Satisfaction?

Life is not about having all you want; it's about appreciating all that you have! To failed means you have tried. To hurt means you have loved. To survive means you have learned. (Anonymous)

Love?

Never expect love to always be at its best cause if you do, you'll never learn to appreciate its existence. (Anonymous)

Gratitude?

Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind. (Lionel Hampton)

Develop a habit of Appreciation and you will see how Prosperous you already are!

Let your soul expand, let your heart reach out to others in loving and generous warmth, and great and lasting will be your joy, and all prosperity will come to you. (James Allen)

Nothing is forever

Life passes way too fast

Every second, every minute, once gone it will never be back

So, live the moment

Take chances

Cherish and Love

Be prosperous in your thoughts and way of life.

John Bays Collection III

John, thank you for photographing these beautiful feather friends in London. You are a true diamond to all friends and followers of my blog. Friends, may I present the universal symbolism of freedom... they can walk on ground, swim in the sea, and enjoy soaring into the sky. I see these babies as hope, joy... love!

Friedrich Nietzsche said "In reality, hope is the worst of all evils because it prolongs man's torments." Interesting, isn't it? How about you? What is hope to you?
Hope keeps me going in my life. It gives me a reason to smile in my darkest days. It gives me a happier vision for the days to come. And when I start daydreaming... I know hope will make it all better, in time.

Hope is that thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops...at all. (Emily Dickinson)

When there's a flicker of hope... joy will trickle into our hearts.  Joy is like a bird which, when pursued, flies farther and higher. However, if you be still and take notice of your surroundings, joy can be just right there staring at you.. waiting for your recognition, appreciation, and embrace.

You have to believe in happiness, or happiness never comes.. Ah, that's the reason a bird can sing - On his darkest day he believes in spring. (Douglas Malloch) 

Happier of happy though I be, like them I cannot take possession of the sky, mount with a thoughtless impulse, and wheel there, one of a mighty multitude whose way and motion is a harmony and dance magnificent. (William Wordsworth)

Love in my life is what makes me happiest of all. Love is magical to me. It starts off slow and cautious, and as it grows, miracles happen. At times, it may seemed as though it had disappeared from the face of the earth, but it will reappear again when the time is right. Love brings hope. Love is joy. Take away love and our souls die a slow death. 

Walking hand in hand... smiling at each other with our eyes... enjoying wine... moonlight kisses... enjoying little moments in life... is what I call "love".

If a bird falls in love with a fish, where would they live?

Who gets the fins and who loses the wings?

It's an irony.

That's how cruel but poetic love can be.

The Lipstick Plant

Gwyneth Palthrow once said..."Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kick-ass red lipstick."

May I introduce to you... The Lipstick Plant from Malaysia 

(It's original native land is our neighbour-country Indonesia)

... tubular flowers emerge from calyxes that looks like lipstick tubes...

... Walla! We have "red lipsticks" ready to bloom...

Red is passion; desires and lust

Red is sexuality; reflections of one's identity

Red is sophistication; one's worldly tastes

Red is all drama; vivid emotional events of one's life

Red is charisma; spiritual and personal qualities

Red is love; deep affections for people around us

Reflections...

These past 2 months have been insane for me. Life has been passionate and fun; wouldn't change that for anything in the world! Work has been barmy; the only thing that I can change is my attitude towards it all. Best thing from my work are my students; totally love them all. Studies has been demanding; I really really really need to improve on my time management...sigh. 

Nonetheless...I always have time for a girls' night out!!!

... there is just something about wearing a red lipstick...sexy, mysterious, and alluring... *giggles*

Background:
The pictures in this blog entry was taken using my mobile phone. My family and I took a drive one weekend for fun and landed somewhere outskirts of the city. Enjoyed the countryside and found a small nursery. This was where I saw the Lipstick Plant and was hooked! The "lipsticks" were too fascinating to be ignored.

First name that came to my mind was "Penis Plant"!!! Oh well...
Then, John Bays from London set me straight. 
After doing a bit of research, this plant is actually pretty common in my rainforest land. However, I have never seen it before. Guess it is God's way of showing off His wonders in His time as we live our life, or else life would indeed be boring!

Pillows of the sky

I have always wanted to take pics of clouds, from "take-off" to "landing" and I finally got my wish last month.  These pictures were taken from a little town named Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu, my home. The plane ride took about 30 minutes. Hope everyone will enjoy being in the clouds with me in this entry of mine :)

Leaving Sandakan...after spending 3 days there...a mini family vacation during the Chinese New Year holidays.

Now, if God made the clouds so beautiful, did HE not mean us to gave upon them and be thankful for them? - Alfred Rowland -  

You can't save a cloud like you can save a leaf or a flower or a rock...clouds are now! - Terri Guillemets -

They are fair resting-places for the dear weary dead on their way up to heaven - Joaquin Miller -

I am the daughter of Earth and Water, and the nursling of the Sky. I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores; I change, but I cannot die... - Percy Bysshe Shelley -

Afflictive emotions - our jealousy, anger, hatred, fear - can be put to an end. When you realized that these emotions are only temporary, that they always pass on like clouds in the sky, you also realize they can ultimately be abandoned - Tenzin Gyatso -

My beautiful home approaching....

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